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[vividgreen]

Did anyone see Brad Haddin's bat at the SCG - was labelled as a Kooka Bubble but the shape looked much bigger and extreme than a standard bubble.
From memory Ian Healey did a morning segment with Michael Slater on day 2 after Haddins first day rescue mission. Healey had one of Haddins bats in his hand and showed the profile - very thin toe area (little wood) with a massive profile from the Mid position upwards - plenty of wood high up the bat.....

If anyone can find a picture of this, i would appreciate if you can post it on here..... Looked like a massive bat with good balance.

[gihanrat]

Do you meanlike this?

[gihanrat]

or this?

[King pair]

Is it just me or does that toe look very laver like?

[awp]

Aussie bubble2 is different to uk bubble, they have both on the gccc site if you want to compare.

[benny231]

I would suggest that, like most pro's, Haddin's bats are made by someone other than Kookaburra. I find that usually a good way to tell this is by whether or not the bats have the stickers on the edges or not. More often than not if the bats aren't stickered on the edge they are made elsewhere and just stickered up for sponsorship reasons.

[awp]

I find that usually a good way to tell this is by whether or not the bats have the stickers on the edges or not.

that's a great point actually......and a very good reason boutique makers should brand edges!

[gihanrat]

The UK Bubble (the stickers as per Haddin's bat in the pics above) have the power bulge as part of their 'unique' feature - a less extreme version of that found in the Menace last season. Not sure if this is the same with the Bubble II, but descriptions from Aussie websites do also describe this  - yet to see a clear profile pic if this is the case. In either case, the bat that Haddin is using doesn't seem to have the power bulge from the side profile, so it looks very much like a stickered up bat.

Similarly, Ian Bell endorsed the Menace last year but never had that 'pregnant bat' profile on his blades unlike the bats on retail in the UK.

So, as per most, if not all, pros, they get their favourite batmaker to 'build their bat to their specs' and then get their sponsors to sticker them up in whatever range they want/are promoting. Hence, the shape is usually custom and so most likely is not available on their retail bats.

[vividgreen]

The pictures shown in the posts above don't do it justice.... On Day 2 (before start of play), Channel 9 showed a close up of his bat and the swell/spine was massive, with a flat bottom toe area - similar to Baileys bats as shown on this link - i doubt it was a standard Bubble;

George Bailey's Kit Bag - The Cricket Show 2013-14

[Alvaro]

There's a photo somewhere of Haddin re-stickering a bat prior to Perth Test from Bubble II to the UK version.

[gihanrat]

There's a photo somewhere of Haddin re-stickering a bat prior to Perth Test from Bubble II to the UK version.

Is Haddin just rubbing England batsmens' noses in it saying that he can also score runs using the English bats?  Nothing magical about them Aussie blades!